It’s as much the environmental benefits as the fuel cost savings for Grasshopper Couriers in Leeds, whose vehicles run on LPG, which independent research has proven to be environmentally better than either petrol or diesel.

However, the other huge benefit is that LPG typically costs about half that of the other two main vehicle fuels, normally resulting in annual savings of up to 40 per cent when compared with gas, which is a massive advantage when vehicle running expenses are a significant overhead.

Dave Sedgwick, a director at Grasshopper Couriers explains: “We estimate that about a third of our customers use us because of our eco-friendly approach, but while we’re doing our bit to help the planet it’s also a sensible way of doing business.”

And it’s not just its vehicles that have the green touch because Grasshopper Couriers environmental strategy extends to how it runs its office, for instance using recycled paper for its stationery, using energy saving light bulbs and offsetting its carbon emissions with support for a carbon reduction charity.

The feedback from the company’s drivers is also very positive, as Dave adds: “When your job involves sitting behind the wheel, then how the vehicles performs is critical. LPG vans are more than capable of handling whatever is thrown at them, whether it’s in the stop-start environment of city driving, or traveling long distances on the highway. And with LPG being widely available, including at many motorway service stations, there’s no need to make a detour to fill up.”

Grasshopper Couriers was formed in 2011, serves clients in a number of sectors, including legal, PR, leisure, manufacturing and education, and its vehicles include Ford Transit Connects, with dual fuel systems fitted by Ford at the time of manufacture.

According to Autogas, a major distributor of LPG, independent tests have shown that LPG produces less CO2 than either petrol or diesel and considerably less oxides of nitrogen.

LPG vehicles also produce 1/120th of the health damaging small particle emissions compared to diesels.